The Irish Expresshttp://theirishexpress.com.au
For All The Irish News In AustraliaTue, 14 Aug 2018 07:37:15 +0000en-AUhourly1https://wordpress.org/?v=4.8.6CSO numbers show record numbers of tourists coming to Irelandhttp://theirishexpress.com.au/cso-numbers-show-record-numbers-of-tourists-coming-to-ireland/
Tue, 14 Aug 2018 07:37:15 +0000http://theirishexpress.com.au/?p=32714More and more tourists are flocking to Ireland.Tourism Ireland says record numbers are coming here, with the latest CSO figures showing a 6.7% rise in overseas visitors for the first half of the year.The growth has come from Britain, North America, Mainland Europe, Australia and emerging markets.Tourism Ireland Chief Executive Niall Gibbons outlined the reasons […]

More and more tourists are flocking to Ireland.Tourism Ireland says record numbers are coming here, with the latest CSO figures showing a 6.7% rise in overseas visitors for the first half of the year.The growth has come from Britain, North America, Mainland Europe, Australia and emerging markets.Tourism Ireland Chief Executive Niall Gibbons outlined the reasons for the increase in numbers.He said: “We had a very strong marketing campaign working very closely with the air and sea carriers which means additional air access coming into Ireland this summer, a 7% increase.“New routes coming in from North America with Aer Lingus, Ryanair putting routes into markets like Germany, and also we’ve got the new routes coming in now from Hong Kong and Beijing with Cathay Pacific and Hainan Airlines.”
Source: Business News

]]>UK pay hikes ‘to hold at 2%’http://theirishexpress.com.au/uk-pay-hikes-to-hold-at-2/
Tue, 14 Aug 2018 07:20:00 +0000http://theirishexpress.com.au/?p=32716British consumer spending dipped last month and few employers plan to offer bigger pay rises, according to economic surveys that suggest future growth is likely to remain modest.Last week, official figures showed growth sped up in the three months to June, after an unusually snowy start to the year, but a lacklustre, year-on-year growth rate […]

British consumer spending dipped last month and few employers plan to offer bigger pay rises, according to economic surveys that suggest future growth is likely to remain modest.Last week, official figures showed growth sped up in the three months to June, after an unusually snowy start to the year, but a lacklustre, year-on-year growth rate prompted finance minister, Philip Hammond, to blame Brexit uncertainty.Consumer-spending figures from payment-card company, Visa, suggest the third-quarter got off to a soft start, with July spending down 0.9%, in inflation-adjusted terms, as only bars, restaurants, and supermarkets gained from scorching weather and the World Cup. “Household budgets are stretched,” Visa’s chief commercial officer, Mark Antipof, said, highlighting August’s rise in Bank of England interest rates and costs for families at the start of the new school year. “Retailers had a difficult time in early 2018, and while there was some respite in May and June, July’s fall in spending is concerning,” he added.The British Retail Consortium trade body showed a 0.8% annual drop in the number of people visiting shops last month. Visa’s figures contrast with those from Barclaycard last week, which showed a continuation of robust, 5% spending growth in July, albeit unadjusted for inflation. Economists polled by Reuters expect official retail sales data next week — which is adjusted for inflation and covers a narrower range of spending than Visa data — to show 3% sales growth. British households have been squeezed by inflation, which has been running faster than pay growth for most of the time since they voted for Brexit in June, 2016. That caused the pound to tumble, pushing up the cost of imported goods.The Bank of England slightly scaled back its forecasts for pay growth earlier this month, though outgoing Monetary Policy Committee member, Ian McCafferty, said pay growth might approach 4% next year. However, human resources staff at major companies do not expect basic pay rates to be raised at anything near this rate over the coming year, according to a quarterly survey by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD).Median pay deals, over the next year, are expected to hold, at 2%, where they have been since late 2017, according to the poll of 2,001 senior HR staff. “Downward pressure of persistently weak productivity growth is dominating any upward pressure on pay from labour and skills shortages,” CIPD’s Gerwyn Davies said.– Reuters
Source: Business News

]]>Bank in $1.5trn student debt bidhttp://theirishexpress.com.au/bank-in-1-5trn-student-debt-bid/
Tue, 14 Aug 2018 07:10:00 +0000http://theirishexpress.com.au/bank-in-1-5trn-student-debt-bid/By Hannah LevittUS bank, Wells Fargo, is considering whether to jump-start its shrinking student-lending business by catering to borrowers holding US government loans.The San Francisco-based firm would offer loans to let customers retire their government-backed student debt, John Rasmussen, the bank’s head of personal lending, said in an interview. Wells Fargo would keep the loans, […]

By Hannah LevittUS bank, Wells Fargo, is considering whether to jump-start its shrinking student-lending business by catering to borrowers holding US government loans.The San Francisco-based firm would offer loans to let customers retire their government-backed student debt, John Rasmussen, the bank’s head of personal lending, said in an interview. Wells Fargo would keep the loans, as it already does with private student debt.The government holds about $1.4trn (€1.22trn) in student loans, representing more than 90% of the $1.5 trillion market.“We continue to assess the needs of our customers, on refinancing of federal loans into private,” Mr Rasmussen said. “We’re sizing what that should look like, how we’d do that in a real, customer-focused way,” he said.The move would help boost a student-loan portfolio that had shrunk to $11.5bn at the end of June, from $12.2bn a year earlier.Wells Fargo’s reputational damage, from a series of US consumer scandals, as well as accelerated loan repayments, amid an improving economy, helped trim the portfolio.The bank has identified students as a fast-growing market to tap, as it navigates a punitive growth ban from the Federal Reserve.Along with deposit accounts, credit cards, and a mobile-banking app, the firm sees federal-loan refinancing as a way to build relationships with college-age consumers.A US Federal Resreve penalty forbids Wells Fargo from boosting its total assets beyond year-end 2017 levels.It remains in place until the bank addresses what the agency called a pattern of abuses and lapses.Among the bank’s scandals, employees opened millions of fake customer accounts, as they pursued bonuses tied to the firm’s ‘cross-selling’ efforts.Compass Point analyst, Michael Tarkan, said a push to widen student lending would make sense for the bank. There are plenty of creditworthy borrowers paying more for government loans than they would in the private market, he said.“It’s possible that they would’ve looked to get into this space a year ago, but given what was going on with cross-selling, I think they may have put some of those initiatives on hold,” Mr Tarkan said. By focusing on private education lending, the bank had confined itself to just 8% of the market.About $1.5trn in total of student debt was outstanding as of March 31, according to MeasureOne, a student-loan data provider.– Bloomberg
Source: Business News

]]>Pound may fall to parity against eurohttp://theirishexpress.com.au/pound-may-fall-to-parity-against-euro/
Tue, 14 Aug 2018 07:00:00 +0000http://theirishexpress.com.au/pound-may-fall-to-parity-against-euro/By Tommy Wilkes, Ritvik Carvalho, and Tom FinHaving sunk to 13-month lows, sterling could fall by up to another 10% in the coming months should Britain crash out of the EU without a deal on future trade ties, luring more speculators to bet against the currency.Sterling lost almost 2% last week, with the latest move […]

By Tommy Wilkes, Ritvik Carvalho, and Tom FinHaving sunk to 13-month lows, sterling could fall by up to another 10% in the coming months should Britain crash out of the EU without a deal on future trade ties, luring more speculators to bet against the currency.Sterling lost almost 2% last week, with the latest move lower being kickstarted by UK trade minister Liam Fox’s warning that, with Britain less than eight months from its scheduled EU departure date in March, there was a 60% chance of leaving without a deal.The moves were certainly exacerbated by a big and broad dollar rally, and the pound has since clawed back the worst of its losses against the euro. In markets troubled by the financial crisis facing Turkey, sterling was little changed against the euro, at 89.32 pence.But the worry, say analysts, is that in the absence of any conclusive developments towards a deal over the coming months, the pound’s spiral will accelerate while the clock ticks down on the deadline and hedge funds are tempted into betting against the currency. And muddying the horizon are major political events —UK prime minister Theresa May’s Conservative Party conference in early October, and meetings of EU leaders in late September and then mid- October.“There’s no guaranteed date for when Brexit progress or hard Brexit will be known by, apart from exit day on 29 March, 2019,” Nomura analysts told clients, describing a hard Brexit as a “cliff edge” moment in which Britain crashes out of the EU in March 2019 without any future trading arrangements in place.“We find that we are very much in the early stages of pricing for a hard Brexit,” they said.Most economists still believe Britain will reach a deal with the EU. But the latest Reuters polls indicate risks of no deal have risen to 25% from 20% in July. Some bookmakers price even higher odds, above 40%. If that comes to pass, Britain’s currency would crash to $1.20, from today’s $1.2750 levels, the Reuters poll showed, a fall of around 6%. But sterling is forecast to rise to $1.34 by end-January if an agreement is reached. Others predict more precipitous falls — Commerzbank sees a 10% drop against the dollar and euro. That would leave the pound close to parity with the single currency, below post-Brexit referendum lows of 94 pence.The slump in the Turkish lira has come as a reminder of what can happen to currencies. The currency has lost more than 40% against the dollar this year, largely due to worries about president Tayyip Erdogan’s influence over the economy, his repeated calls for lower interest rates, and worsening ties with the US.– Reuters
Source: Business News

]]>Growing calls for Howlin to resignhttp://theirishexpress.com.au/growing-calls-for-howlin-to-resign/
Tue, 14 Aug 2018 01:30:00 +0000http://theirishexpress.com.au/growing-calls-for-howlin-to-resign/Labour leader Brendan Howlin. Photo: Frank McGrath Growing calls for Howlin to resign Independent.ie A fifth Labour Party councillor has called for Brendan Howlin to facilitate a leadership contest. https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/politics/growing-calls-for-howlin-to-resign-37213705.html https://www.independent.ie/opinion/article36973622.ece/79dcb/AUTOCROP/h342/12%20NEWS%202017-02-09_opi_28503231_I2.JPG Email A fifth Labour Party councillor has called for Brendan Howlin to facilitate a leadership contest. Cllr Martina Genockey, a member of the party’s […]

A fifth Labour Party councillor has called for Brendan Howlin to facilitate a leadership contest.

Cllr Martina Genockey, a member of the party’s Executive Board, has joined colleagues in publicly urging Mr Howlin to step aside.

She said the party has “continued to lose support both in elections and in the polls” since the Wexford TD took over as leader after the last general election.

“To that end, I think that a leadership contest would give those involved a chance to lay out their vision for the Labour Party and give a renewed sense of urgency to the rebuild of the party,” Cllr Genocky said.

Already her colleagues on South Dublin County Council, Pamela Kearns and Mick Duffy, as well as Noel Tuohy from Co Laois and Terry O’Brien from Co Kerry, have called on Mr Howlin to resign. Their statements prompted a statement from 16 other councillors who have argued it is not the right time for a change at the top.

Labour has struggled to show any signs of revival since its near wipe-out in the 2016 general election when it went from having 37 TDs to only seven.

Mr Howlin took over from Joan Burton as party leader without a contest, even though Tipperary TD Alan Kelly had expressed an interest in challenging him.

In her statement, Cllr Genocky said she sought a position on the party’s Executive Board because she wanted an influence over the way party interacts with members and in its decision making. “I disagree that now is not the right time for a leadership election. I do not feel that such a contest would hinder the work of the party,” she said.

Around 10,000 people attended a concert by the Wolfe Tones on Sunday night with videos showing large numbers of tricolours in the crowd.

Some had ‘IRA’ and ‘PIRA’ written on them, leading IRA abuse victim Máiría Cahill to question Mr Varadkar’s decision to associate his office with the festival.

She said it was “foolhardy” of the Taoiseach to endorse Féile an Phobail, which many associate with the Republican movement.

Its programme included a talk by the leaders of ‘The Great Escape’, when 38 IRA prisoners broke out of a H-Block in Long Kesh in 1983.

“He was warned about it before he went and did it,” Ms Cahill told the Irish Independent, adding that the scenes from the Wolfe Tones concert “tainted the entire event”.

The video showing the IRA flags was posted on the official Féile on Phobail Twitter page.

“There are some very good events that go on during Féile but this caricaturing of Belfast as a community where everybody supports the IRA is wrong,” Ms Cahill said.

Local Progressive Unionist Party councillor Julie-Anne Corr Johnston said she was “angry” and “disheartened” to hear people singing “F*** your Union Jack, we want our country back” and “Oooh ahhh, up the ‘Ra”.

A spokesperson for the Taoiesach last night noted that on the same day in June that he launched the festival, he met with members of the Orange Order at their museum in the city.

“Féile an Phobail is a community event, which has seen the attendance of many politicians from all parts of the community over the years. While the Taoiseach was very happy to speak at the launch, this does not mean he endorses every aspect of every event over its 10-day programme,” the spokesperson said.

At the launch, Mr Varadkar said Féile was a “genuine festival of the people”.

“Some might think it remarkable that a celebration of community and of culture was able to emerge from the background of the Troubles, 30 years ago. I don’t. It’s exactly what was needed,” he said.

The Taoiseach added that the programme of events promised to be an “enriching experience”.

“It provides the perfect opportunity to build understanding and to explore what it means to be Irish or British or both, in a rapidly changing world.”

]]>A glimpse of trench warfarehttp://theirishexpress.com.au/a-glimpse-of-trench-warfare/
Tue, 14 Aug 2018 01:30:00 +0000http://theirishexpress.com.au/a-glimpse-of-trench-warfare/Denis Shine (left, of the Irish Archaeology Field School) and Stephen Callaghan at last week’s dig beside Crinkle Barracks. A glimpse of trench warfare Independent.ie The excavation of a World War I training trench in Co Offaly has provided a snapshot of how soldiers were trained for trench warfare. https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/a-glimpse-of-trench-warfare-37213702.html https://www.independent.ie/incoming/article37213353.ece/43efc/AUTOCROP/h342/20180809_155955%20INT_ED5_S01%20Read-Only.jpg Email The excavation of […]

The excavation of a World War I training trench in Co Offaly has provided a snapshot of how soldiers were trained for trench warfare.

In the first excavation of its kind, volunteers unearthed threepenny coins and empty cartridges at the site of the former Birr Barracks.

The barracks housed staff and servicemen from the Leinster Regiment in Crinkill, Co Offaly.

The Sixth Battalion spent a period there some time after the outbreak of hostilities in 1914 in preparation for combat in Gallipoli.

Local historian Stephen Callaghan said it had been a very exciting time for everyone involved in the dig.

“The excavation was the first of its kind in the Republic of Ireland, and helped provide further information about the training structure put in place to train men for life in the trenches,” he said.

“The dig has given an insight as to how training trenches in Ireland were used to help train Kitchener’s new army for the war.”

Mr Callaghan said spent casings of rifle cartridges indicates that firing training took place in the trenches.

The dig was facilitated by the Irish Archaeological Field School, with the support of Offaly County Council, as part of community outreach efforts. Mr Callaghan came up with the idea to carry out the dig and was helped by the Field School and the council. The licence for the dig was obtained from the National Monuments Service.

The dig lasted for seven days and none of the participants received any pay for their efforts. They were amateur enthusiasts including students, military historians and a number of locals.

Irish designer Paula Rowan could have been forgiven for giving up her dreams of driving a luxury glove business.

She launched her leather gloves and handbag store in Dublin’s Westbury Mall in 2008, the very day Lehman Brothers went out of business.

However, after “some difficult years, business is moving in the right direction and the world is my oyster”, said Paula yesterday as she leafed through the keenly awaited September edition of British ‘Vogue’ with its colourful Rihanna cover.

The September ‘Big Fashion Issue’ is one of the most collectible glossy fashion magazines of the year, along with its American equivalent, and Paula’s Irish designed, Italian-made ‘Belle’ gauntlet gloves feature in a shoot styled by Hanna Kelifa.

The Dublin businesswoman is keeping good company. Her €450 burgundy lambskin gloves with silk lining were styled with a Victoria Beckham trench.

This year her gloves have appeared twice in Italian ‘Vogue’ and celebrities who have worn her gloves include Helen Mirren, Kate Winslet, Julianne Moore and Kate Moss.

“Gloves are very prominent in fashion this season, hence the call in for the September issue,” explained Paula.

“The gloves were called in a few months ago and you never actually know if the shots will be used until you are asked how you would like to be credited and I always welcome those emails. You never know who might see these images; it could be another stylist, buyer, fashion editor or a fashion house.”

]]>Hammer attack in home leaves man with cracked skullhttp://theirishexpress.com.au/hammer-attack-in-home-leaves-man-with-cracked-skull/
Tue, 14 Aug 2018 01:30:00 +0000http://theirishexpress.com.au/hammer-attack-in-home-leaves-man-with-cracked-skull/Stock photo Hammer attack in home leaves man with cracked skull Independent.ie A man suffered a fractured skull and other horrific injuries when three masked attackers broke into a north Dublin house and beat him over the head and body with hammers. https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/hammer-attack-in-home-leaves-man-with-cracked-skull-37213688.html https://www.independent.ie/breaking-news/irish-news/article36868525.ece/958e4/AUTOCROP/h342/page36_gardai.jpg Email A man suffered a fractured skull and other horrific injuries […]

A man suffered a fractured skull and other horrific injuries when three masked attackers broke into a north Dublin house and beat him over the head and body with hammers.

Sean Cummins (40) was taken to Beaumont Hospital, where he is still being treated for serious head injuries as well as a number of broken ribs and other major cuts and bruises.

The horrific hammer attack happened when Mr Cummins and his 37-year-old girlfriend had just returned to a property at St Berach’s Place in Kilbarrack, at around 11.40pm on Friday.

It is understood the couple were in a downstairs room when the men entered the property through an unlocked door.

The trio immediately targeted Mr Cummins, who suffered a large number of blows to his head and body by the masked men. They then fled the scene in a waiting car in the direction of Kilbarrack Road. The emergency services were called.

“This individual is extremely lucky to be alive – he was struck a number of times in the head with a hammer and suffered very serious injuries,” a source said.

“There was blood everywhere – this was a truly horrific scene and the victim was targeted in a sustained and deliberate way.”

Raheny gardaí have not yet made any arrests in the case, which is being treated as an aggravated burglary case.

However, nothing was stolen from the property in the course of the robbery and the victim’s girlfriend was not injured in the savage attack.

One source said the victim may have been targeted after being “blamed for a number of break-ins in the locality” but there is no evidence of this.

Gardaí said all the suspects were wearing dark clothing and masked.

Mr Cummins, who is originally from the nearby Briarfield Grove estate, is a well-known petty criminal who is regularly searched on sight by officers and has a number of previous convictions.

His most serious brush with the law happened back in March 2006, when he was given a two-year jail sentence for four counts of falsely using AIB cheques in the north Dublin area on dates in June 2003.

Since then, the father of at least two children has continued to come to Garda attention, including when he stole chocolate bars and fake tan spray from a supermarket in what was described in Dublin District Court as a “silly” theft.

That court sitting, in November 2015, heard Mr Cummins was “going through a difficult period” when he shoplifted the goods at the Tesco store in Kilbarrack.

]]>US stocks take further losses as Turkey worries continuehttp://theirishexpress.com.au/us-stocks-take-further-losses-as-turkey-worries-continue/
Mon, 13 Aug 2018 22:22:00 +0000http://theirishexpress.com.au/us-stocks-take-further-losses-as-turkey-worries-continue/US stocks fell further on Monday as Turkey’s central bank was unable to stop a steep plunge in the nation’s currency.The fall helped to push the dollar higher, hurting big exporters.Stocks are coming off their worst losses in a month as investors worry about financial and economic upheaval in Turkey and the possibility it will […]

US stocks fell further on Monday as Turkey’s central bank was unable to stop a steep plunge in the nation’s currency.The fall helped to push the dollar higher, hurting big exporters.Stocks are coming off their worst losses in a month as investors worry about financial and economic upheaval in Turkey and the possibility it will spread to other countries.Asian markets fell overnight, while European markets were slightly lower.Global markets skidded on Friday as investors worried that financial distress in Turkey could affect the international banking system and the broader economy. Many analysts say that is not likely, but it has caused sharp losses for stocks.On Monday Turkey’s central bank announced measures to help the country’s banks, but the Turkish lira and Turkey’s stock market continued to slide.The lira has been tumbling as investors question whether the government of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan can cope with problems including the weakening currency and a diplomatic spat with Washington that has resulted in higher US tariffs.Mr Erdogan has ruled out higher interest rates, which can slow economic growth, but independent analysts say higher rates are urgently needed to stabilise the country’s currency. His refusal is one of several factors worrying investors.Investors also backed away from Argentina’s stock market. The Argentinian peso sank to an all-time low amid investor caution and a local corruption scandal involving former government officials.While Turkey and Argentina face different political situations, the currencies of both countries have tumbled to all-time lows against the dollar, partly because rising interest rates in the US lure investors to take money out of their markets and move it to the US.The dollar is the strongest it has been in more than a year, which could eventually create problems for companies that make a lot of sales overseas.Terry Sandven, chief equity strategist at US Bank Wealth Management, said the dollar has strengthened because economic growth has picked up and other regions are not doing as well.“The US is a relative beacon of strength with stable to improving economy. That suggests a stronger dollar,” he said.The S&P 500 index lost 11.35 points, or 0.4%, to 2,821.93 after a drop of 0.7% on Friday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average slid 125.44 points, or 0.5%, to 25,187.70.Energy and industrial companies and basic materials companies took some of the worst losses. Technology companies held up better.The Nasdaq composite fell 19.40 points, or 0.2%, to 7,819.71, and the Russell 2000 index of smaller-company stocks sank 11.49 points, or 0.7%, to 1,675.32.Investors are worried about a confluence of factors including Turkey’s reliance on foreign loans, which become more difficult to repay when the country’s currency is plunging. Also, a diplomatic spat with the US is resulting in sharply higher tariffs on Turkish steel and aluminium.After a year-long stretch where much of the global economy was speeding up together and stocks were rising, the losses for Turkey and Argentina have caused emerging market indexes to fall out of favour.Stocks were on a five-week winning streak before last week, and strong corporate earnings reports were a big factor, but most of those reports are done, and Mr Sandven said stocks may spend the next two months wavering.In corporate news, German conglomerate Bayer took a dive after a US jury ruled against its Monsanto unit Friday and awarded 289 million dollars to a former school groundskeeper who said that exposure to Monsanto’s Roundup weed killer caused cancer. Monsanto said government agencies and hundreds of studies have concluded Roundup is safe.Trading in Germany, Bayer tumbled 10.3%.Motorcycle maker Harley-Davidson fell 4.3% to 41.38 dollars after President Donald Trump tweeted in support of a potential boycott of its products.Mr Trump has been criticising the company since June, when it said it would move more manufacturing out of the US to avoid European tariffs. The EU put new taxes on US motorcycles in response to the Trump administration’s tariffs on products imported from Europe.US crude oil fell 0.6% to 67.20 dollars a barrel in New York. Brent crude lost 0.3% to 72.61 dollars a barrel in London.Nielsen Holdings jumped 12.1% to 24.62 dollars after Elliott Management, a firm run by activist investor Paul Singer, disclosed an ownership stake and said Nielsen should consider selling itself or some of its assets to boost its stock price.Nielsen stock has been sinking since it traded over 50 dollars two years ago.Most retailers were down, but Amazon advanced 0.5% to 1,896.20 dollars. It passed travel website Booking Holdings to become the highest-priced stock on the S&P 500.In other energy trading, wholesale petrol dipped 1.2% to 2.01 dollars a gallon, heating oil lost 0.1% to 2.14 dollars a gallon, and natural gas slid 0.5% to 2.93 dollars per 1,000 cubic feet.Gold dropped 1.6% to 1,198.90 dollars an ounce, its lowest price since January 2017. Silver fell 2% to 14.98 dollars an ounce, and copper dipped 0.4% to 2.73 dollars a pound.Bond prices were little changed. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note stayed at 2.88%.– Press Association
Source: Business News